


Dusk

by NovelistAngel23



Category: Twilight Series - All Media Types, 킬링 스토킹 | Killing Stalking (Webcomic)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Vampire, M/M, Unhealthy Relationships, but like twilight if it were more horror than romance, it's a twilight au yall
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-15 23:10:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15423705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovelistAngel23/pseuds/NovelistAngel23
Summary: Moving from Korea to Forks, Washington after the death of his grandparents, Bum wasn't expecting much. Living in such a cold, rainy place with an uncle he barely knew seemed more like a punishment than a solution.And then he met Sangwoo.





	1. First Sight

When Bum’s parents died, he was still too young to really understand what happened. He knew he wasn’t going to see them again. They’d left in a car, driving far away and waving from the window as Bum watched them leave between his grandmother and grandfather. He’d been told they were going on a long vacation, and he’d have to stay with his grandparents for a while.

That wasn’t a lie at least. He just hadn’t expected to stay with them for eleven years.

When he was sixteen, they died too. It wasn’t a car accident. His grandfather was sick, and one night he fell asleep and never woke up. Bum felt numb as he stood by his bedside, realizing he wouldn’t wake up no matter how much he shook him.

Then a few months after the funeral, his grandmother died. They said it was a weak heart. He said it was a broken one.

That was why he was staring out the window of a plane on his way to America. Curled in a blanket with headphones over his head, he tried to ignore the fact that he’d have to leave everything he’d ever known for some small town in America. He’d never had any friends--not one person he could think back fondly on--but at least he’d known the streets and the faces and the language and the culture and the food and the city lights on a long walk home.

But his uncle lived in America. The only family he had left in the world. It’d been decided he would move there to live with him.

He stared at the clouds passing on his way, trying to imagine what it’d be like. Maybe people would be nicer there. Maybe he’d be liked? Maybe Forks, Washington wasn’t just a sleepy, rainy city; maybe it was everything he’d been praying for his whole life. Maybe it was somewhere he’d find the love he’d been chasing for since his parents died.

He sighed and smiled bitterly. He’d always been a daydreamer.

The music coming through his headphones changed to something peaceful, and he closed his eyes to listen to the lyrics. It wasn’t long before he’d fallen asleep.

 

His uncle picked him up at the airport without a smile. Bum nervously pushed his luggage into the backseat and shuffled around to the front all while his uncle watched from the driver’s seat. Hands crossed over the top of the steering wheel, eyes piercing black.

Bum had met him a few times before, the last time being at his grandmother’s funeral. He’d explained to him then that he was his last surviving relative, and he’d have to move in with him soon. Bum, numb as he always was when someone died around him, just nodded and said he was sorry. Unlike his grandparents, he didn’t ask why he was apologizing. He just sneered and said, “Good.”

The drive from the airport to Forks was long and rainy. Bum stared out the window like he had before on the plane. He figured he’d be doing a lot of that now. He was sickly like his grandfather had been, and rain was unkind to people as frail as him.

No music on the radio, no chit chat from his uncle, Bum felt isolated more than he ever had before. He’d said nothing when his grandmother died, but now he found he inexplicably missed her. At least with her he’d had some semblance of normalcy. His uncle didn’t even speak Korean that much anymore.

But Bum knew better than to complain. He was a good boy.

They made it to his uncle’s house soon enough anyway. A nice little townhouse, looking out onto the street. As Bum dragged his luggage up the steps of the porch, his uncle leaned in the doorway. “School tomorrow,” he said in broken Korean.

“I can speak English,” Bum whispered, in not quite as broken English.

His uncle grunted his assent. “It’s down the road. I have work, so you’re gonna have to walk.”

Bum looked where his uncle pointed, far down the road and deep into the city, a building just a bit taller than the rest, enough that he could see the top of it from over the skyline. He swallowed his sigh. It felt too surreal. One minute in Korea, the next so far from home that he didn’t even recognize the sun poking through the clouds.

He dragged his stuff inside and closed the door behind him.

 

Bum was grateful he’d gotten so much sleep in the car and plane that he woke up on time for school. 6:30 AM he was awake, and his uncle was gone. Outside it was pouring rain so hard that it made Bum jump when it began. Slamming against the windows over and over. Bum looked outside through the curtains to see a dark gray sky and a flooded street. How would his umbrella even survive that?

But nevertheless, he obediently got dressed and brushed his hair and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He’d always looked pale and tired and skinny, but his eyes were huge black pits in his face. Back home, he’d been called creepy for it. He’d more than once been compared to a frog, even by his grandmother. He wondered if it’d be different here. Maybe he’d be considered handsome!

He snorted at the thought, and left the mirror, hoping to make breakfast, but when he opened the door, he found nothing much in the fridge. There was beer--a lot of it. Besides that, there was some bread that looked closed to molding and butter. He frowned at the meager offerings and decided he’d rather not impose (or maybe that he’d rather eat air than that bread).

He packed his backpack instead, the same binders he’d used back home but empty now of his old notes and old handouts. He held his backpack close to his chest and looked out the window again. The rain was starting to lessen. At least he wouldn’t drown just walking to school.

He stepped out the door with his umbrella still in hand nonetheless. Better safe than sorry.

 

The walk didn’t take as long as he’d expected it to; he made it to the building a half hour at least before school started. Plenty of time to figure out where his classes were. Just standing outside of the building, he could tell already it was vastly different from the one he’d left behind. It wasn’t quite as tall, and the students milling about all wore casual clothes. Bum had worn something casual too, but it felt so strange. He was used to the press of a tie knotted at his throat and a starchy collar.

Distracted as he walked towards the building, he didn’t realize he was about to bump into someone until it was too late. He gasped in surprise, moving to reel back, but he slammed into their back, causing the both of them to tumble to the ground.

“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention and I--” he said in Korean, before realizing what he’d done and saying it again, softer, in English. “I’m sorry.”

The person he’d knocked over was a boy, about his age with green eyes and blonde hair. He didn’t look angry as Bum scrambled to his feet and reached to help him up. In fact, he looked excited instead. “Hey, hey, no need to apologize!” he said, eagerly grabbing Bum’s hand. “What were you saying?”

Bum felt his face go red with shame. He’d told himself to think before he spoke. He didn’t want to alienate people here. He was already strange enough. “I, um, I’m from Korea. I was speaking Korean. I’m sorry.”

The boy laughed as he got to his feet. “Oh no way, you’re the new kid everyone is talking about, aren’t you?”

“What?” Bum whispered, shrinking away from the words. People were talking about him? He’d gotten to America just yesterday though, how did they even know he existed?

“Oh it’s nothing bad!” The boy stood beside him, wrapped an arm around his skinny shoulders. “School gossip, yknow? Someone overheard a guy enrolling a Korean student, so everyone’s been talking about who it is.”

When Bum’s fearful expression didn’t change, the boy sighed with a smile. “It’s a small town. We talk about what we can. Anyway I’m Kyle. And you are?”

Bum felt his cheeks turn red as he nodded. He’d forgotten about that. Were small towns usually gossipy? “Yoon Bum,” he introduced nervously as Kyle began to lead him into the building.

“Is that one name? Yoonbum?”

“Uh, n-no… C-call me Bum…”

“Oh. Oh, ha ha. Bum?” Kyle struggled not to laugh. “Okay.”

 

Until class started, Kyle took Bum on a tour of the school. He met more people who attached themselves to him without hesitation. He still felt so out of place, trying to keep the names straight. “So this is Sarah,” he said of a mousy looking brunette; “Her name is Kailey,” he said of a blonde girl. He met two more boys too, one named Charlie, one named Alex. Kyle showed him to each of his classrooms, in order. He introduced him to teachers too.

The only thing Bum could do in exchange was answer his questions about Korea. “So like, I heard you guys never sleep, is that true?”

“N-no? We sleep, we just have lots of schoolwork,” Bum whispered back.

He also asked about kpop bands, which Bum wasn’t a big fan of; and kdramas, which Bum watched very little of; and about how Bum could speak English so well, which was a little insulting, since Bum had been studying it since he was a kid.

His last question, just before the bell rang, was the most surprising of them, and the hardest to answer. “So, how about I get a picture for the school newspaper?” he asked, pulling a camera out of his bag.

Bum felt himself starting to panic. A school newspaper? Everyone would know what he looked like.

Everyone would laugh at him…

“No,” he begged. “Please, no.”

Kyle looked a little taken aback when Bum shook his head like he was trying to shake his brain out. “Hey, okay! It’s okay, not a big deal, man!” He shoved his camera back in his bag. “You’re really weird, yknow?”

Bum felt ashamed, having reacted so strongly, but he’d had his fair share of being the laughing stock of the school. He wanted so badly for this to be a fresh start, a blank slate. “I’m sorry…”

Kyle smiled as the bell rang calling for students to rush to their classrooms. “Nothing to apologize for. Cmon, I’ll walk you to class.”

 

Class was strange too. He remembered back home, every student practically identical, faces buried in their notebooks as they scribbled notes. Even the slackers were only recognizable because they were doodling instead of writing. Here though, he got hit in the back of the head with a paper airplane, and when he looked back, the person responsible looked embarrassed and mouthed an apology at him. The teacher was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and looked more like a student than he did.

He felt so out of place. He tried to take notes, but it felt wrong when the teacher was so casual, telling crazy stories instead of talking about the material. Every teacher seemed to be different, but every class was the same when he walked into them. He saw Kyle in one class and gratefully sat next to him, sighing in relief. “It’s good to see a friendly face, huh?” Kyle laughed at his expression, and he nodded eagerly.

After that class, it was lunch, and Kyle led him by his chatter to a table already almost full of students. “Sarah, Kailey, Charlie, and Alex!” he named one by one, and each of them waved. “You remember Bum!” He leaned in conspiratorially. “The new kid?”

Kailey giggled behind her hand, but everyone else seemed relatively straight-faced. “Welcome to Forks,” Charlie said. He had curly brown hair and browner eyes. “So you’re from Korea?”

Sarah perked up at the words, eyes going wide behind her glasses. “Oh shit, you know who else is from Korea?”

A grin went across Alex’s face, showing off purple and blue braces. “Sang!”

Bum looked around the table curiously as they all started to shout the name as if they’d just realized something incredible. He took a cautious seat when Kyle insisted he do so and leaned into the conversation. “U-um… who’s Sang?”

Sarah went red and pushed her glasses up. “O-oh, he’s, uh--”

“The hottest guy in school?” Kailey chuckled, curling a lock of blonde hair around one finger. “He’s captain of the soccer team, looks like he’s 26 in a good way.”

Bum wasn’t quite sure what that all meant, but he nodded cautiously in response. “Um--”

Alex scoffed, leaning back in his seat and letting his long legs cross in front of him. “He’s not  _ that _ great,” he muttered and crossed his arms too.

Kailey looked at Bum with a wink. “Alex here is just jealous because almost every girl in school is in love with him.”

“And some of the guys,” Charlie added with a shrug.

Bum nodded again. “He’s from Korea?” he asked, not sure what to say to all of that. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t known about popular kids back home, but the way they talked about this Sang guy he seemed almost like an idol.

“Yep!” Kyle said, leaning back from his seat as if looking for someone. “He moved from Korea like a couple of years ago?” He finally seemed to find what he was looking for and his hand shot into the air as he waved. “Hey! Sang! Sang, over here!”

Everyone whipped around to see what Kyle did, finding Sang sticking out of the crowd as if he radiated light. He turned to face them too, and he looked at each of them in turn, his eyes falling on Bum last.

Sang was…  _ Beautiful _ . The moment their eyes met, Bum felt his breath disappear, as if he were being choked. His monolid eyes were an otherworldly, piercing gold in color. He wore his hair in a half blonde undercut, slicked back from his face. He was taller than Bum by a mile, and his arms were laced with muscle, his chest stretching his plain t-shirt.

Bum’s heart pounded against his ribs, a bird struggling to escape. He felt it fly up to his throat and escape in a tiny soft, “Oh.”

No one seemed to hear, because Sang’s eyes narrowed and then he walked towards them, making all of them cheer with success. “Yeah, what’s up?” he asked, dragging his eyes from Bum’s and looking at Kyle for a brief second.

But there was something strange about him. Where everyone else at the table had smiled at Bum politely and went on their way, Sang’s eyes kept falling on Bum again. He seemed stiff, tense, as if he were struggling to hold back something. His nostrils flared, and he barely listened as Kyle introduced Bum. “So this is Bum--I know right? He’s from Korea! I thought you two would get along since--”

Sang turned a glare on the boy that could pierce stone. “Because we’re both Korean?” He tilted his head and smirked. “That’s racist.”

The entire table went silent and still. They clearly hadn’t expected that. Before Kyle could protest, Sang turned to walk away, raising his hand to say goodbye. “And it’s Sang _ woo _ , asshole.”

Bum barely heard the rest of the table whispering around him.  “Wow what’s his problem!”

“He’s right Kyle, that was pretty racist--”

“He must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed--”

“He’s usually pretty cool--”

All Bum could do was stare hopelessly after Sangwoo, eyes starry with a realization he’d been hoping to avoid. It was an achingly familiar tingle--that bubbly begging in the pit of his belly, a longing that could not be satisfied. An obsession. He’d felt this way before. He knew how it usually ended.

But Sangwoo was so handsome… popular. Unafraid to speak his mind. He was everything Bum wasn’t. He was perfect, and Bum longed to be caught in his orbit, to be his favorite moon.

Bum was head over heels in love.


	2. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting used to Forks was easy. Getting used to Sangwoo was not.

As the weeks passed, Bum got used to the new surroundings. He didn’t always understand his new friends (who had taken to calling him just B), and the classes were still completely foreign to him, but he found it easier each day. He even started to enjoy the rain just a bit. It was comforting to fall asleep to the pitter patter outside his room.

He even got used to his uncle’s rampaging. He went to work sometime in the middle of the night and came home after Bum came back from school. And then he’d drink himself into a stupor--or into a fury. He’d go around the house knocking things over and screaming. The first time it happened, Bum locked himself in his room and cried in fear.

But he didn’t complain. He was a good boy, he didn’t complain. Instead, he locked his door as soon as he came home and focused on doing homework while the sound of his uncle kicking and screaming reached a crescendo and slowly faded away.

He got to setting up his room too. He’d never had one of his own, and it was strange having such a big bed, but the room slowly became his space instead of an empty one. A bed with beige sheets, mussed from his sleeping in it. A desk with his schoolwork scattered across. A hamper near the door which overflowed with clothes because he was too scared of using any detergent to clean them. He was still scared of his life interfering with his uncle’s. He didn’t want to be on the receiving end of those drunken rampages.

The one thing he couldn’t get used to through it all was Sangwoo.

 

They had biology class together, and the first time Bum walked into the room and saw Sangwoo there, he felt like his heart might pound out of his chest. He walked into the classroom, chilled by a fan, realizing with glee that the only free chair was right beside Sangwoo.

He didn’t even stop to wonder why someone as popular as Sangwoo would be sitting alone. The only thing that gave him pause was the way Sangwoo immediately looked at him with a glare that could have killed someone, his beautiful golden eyes hard with something like hatred.

It made Bum’s stomach churn, but then the teacher touched his shoulder. “All right, Bum Yoon right?” he asked with a grin. He was a small man, with curly black hair and glasses and a mouthful of crooked teeth. “Well, looks like Sangwoo still doesn’t have a partner, so let’s set you up there before class starts.”

Bum let himself be led to Sangwoo’s table, sitting carefully in the stool that made his feet dangle a few inches above the floor. He looked up at Sangwoo who was glaring at him still, elbow on the table and chin on his hand. Bum suppressed a squeak of surprise. The teacher placed a sheet of paper in front of Bum. “All right, Sangwoo don’t bite, he’s new.”

Sangwoo smirked, showing off a bit of his teeth. The way they glinted made Bum shiver. “I won’t.”

The teacher laughed at that, heading back to the front of the classroom. “All right, all right, everyone settle down already!” he called at the rest of the class. “You have two minutes before I take attendance and if you’re not in a chair, you are not here!”

Bum didn’t pay any attention, looking up at Sangwoo still. His smirk had fallen away, and now he was glaring at Bum unblinkingly. “I-I’m… Bum.” He lifted his hand towards Sangwoo to shake.

Sangwoo looked down at his hand, and Bum swore he saw his pupils… change. From an ordinary round to suddenly thin slits, and then back again. He looked up at him and raised his eyebrows. “You’re so pale,” he said. “I can see all of your veins. You must be a delight at the doctor’s office.”

He didn’t shake his hand though, turning to look at his paper. Bum slowly lowered his hand. Despite the cold shoulder he was getting, he could feel his stomach warm as he watched Sangwoo’s eyes trace the words on the paper. He was so damn handsome. He was breathtaking. The sharpness of his jaw, the fullness of his lips. The way his nose inclined even, it was incredible.

Sangwoo sat up a little in his seat. “I’m pretty good at this stuff,” he sighed, lifting the paper to wave it at Bum. “That’s why I don’t have a partner. Just promise you can keep up?”

Bum nodded eagerly. He’d barely even heard what Sangwoo said. He just wanted to please him.

Sangwoo smiled at him, and for a moment it actually seemed genuine. “We’ll see about that,” he said.

To Bum’s surprise, he did keep up. Sangwoo went through his paper with precision, answering each question in order without hesitation. Bum was slower, his handwriting was scribbly, but he still finished only just after Sangwoo and before everyone else in class.

Sangwoo took his paper after he finished writing the last answer and looked down the page. He hummed, tilting his head. He almost looked like a puppy when he did that, golden eyes wider and shiny. “Not bad. Work on your handwriting, I like my work neat.”

Bum preened under the praise. He would have the best handwriting in the entire damn school if it made Sangwoo happy.

The rest of class was easy, Bum taking his notes slowly so it looked nice. He looked over at Sangwoo every now and then, and every time he caught him staring at him. Well, he’d say caught, but Sangwoo didn’t seem to care if he noticed. He raised his eyebrows at Bum as if daring him to say something about it. Bum never did, but his blush grew brighter and brighter.

Sangwoo didn't say goodbye when class ended though. He stood up from his seat, grabbed his backpack, and walked away without a word or a glance back. Bum climbed down from his seat, staring helplessly after him. Even his back was handsome, strong muscles visible through his shirt.

Then he stepped through the door and was gone.

Bum felt himself deflate. He'd honestly thought maybe they were bonding. He longed to chase after him, ask if he’d offended him, but before he could, a group of girls surrounded him. “You're the new guy, right?” one asked, and Bum decided he really hated small towns.

 

Every class went that way. He would spend the entire day waiting for biology where he told himself he'd finally confront Sangwoo for giving him the cold shoulder after class. There was a reason, he was sure of it. Whether Bum had offended him or maybe he was embarrassed to be seen around him, Bum at least wanted an answer. Regardless, he could never bring himself to ask.

Bum took to the internet too. With Kyle as his righthandman to all things Forks High School, he found all of Sangwoo’s social media and followed them religiously. He reasoned, it wasn't  _ that _ odd. It was normal to want to know about your crush. What they were doing, where they were, who they were with…

Besides no one had to know that every time he looked at his phone, he was looking at Sangwoo.

Still, nothing compared to sitting beside him in class. Bum’s handwriting improved more and more every day, until instead of insulting it, Sangwoo merely nodded and went back to his own work. Bum delighted in finally pleasing him--at least as much as Sangwoo could be pleased.

That day, when the teacher left the classroom to grab something he'd forgotten to print, Bum looked at Sangwoo and said, “Thank you.”

To his surprise, Sangwoo replied in fluent Korean. “You're thanking me? For what, allowing you to sit next to me?”

Caught off guard, Bum stuttered his reply in Korean as well. “F-for helping me improve my handwriting…”

Sangwoo rolled his eyes. “I didn't do anything for you. You're pretty pathetic thanking me for doing nothing.”

Bum’s cheeks went red with shame. Sangwoo was so beautiful, but he was so  _ mean _ . Still Bum wanted to impress him. He just wanted him to like him.

When a girl at the table in front of them turned in her stool to talk to Sangwoo, he grinned and talked to her in English as if he hadn't just called Bum pathetic. “Hazel, did you get a haircut?” he asked, his tone so genuinely adoring that Bum wondered if he was in love with her.

She giggled and touched her hair. “I did actually! Does it look nice?”

“You look amazing.” He winked, and Bum’s stomach churned. “Of course, you always look amazing so…”

Hazel went red and shooed his praise away with one hand. “Sangwoo, you are such a flirt!”

Bum wished he was her, and at the same time he wished she'd disappear. He tried to push the bitter feeling down as far as he could. He didn't even know her. Sangwoo was a jerk to him! Why was he like this?

The teacher came back, and everyone turned their attention back to him. Bum stared at his lap and his frail hands resting on his thighs.

Suddenly he felt a hush of cold beside his ear as Sangwoo whispered in Korean, “Are you jealous or something? You wear your heart on your sleeve.”

Bum shot his gaze up to Sangwoo, who didn't lean away, watching him instead. He smiled, so close to Bum that Bum worried someone would point it out. “Hazel is single,” he said. “And she likes cute boys. Be my guest.”

Bum frowned and shook his head, and Sangwoo smirked. He turned back to his work like he didn't care. To Bum it felt like a slap, stinging his cheeks with shame. He had no clue. He’d probably be disgusted if he knew why Bum was really upset.

As class came to a close, the teacher raised a stack of papers up off the desk. “Ah, not so fast, I have permission slips for the field trip next week. Come get them okay. No slip, no field trip, got it? We’re not having a repeat of last year!”

Bum took the slip obediently, looking over at Sangwoo and Hazel laughing over the details. “He always makes it seem like such a big deal,” Hazel sighed. “It’s just an excuse to get out of the class.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Sangwoo. “And be alone with your lab partner.”

Sangwoo smiled at her, but Bum didn’t see it, his sight going blurry as he lost himself in thought. Be alone with your lab partner? He blinked and looked up at Sangwoo’s profile again, the carefree laughter and starry eyes.

He needed to get his permission slip signed as soon as possible.

 

Bum hadn't spoken much to his uncle since he'd moved in. Partly for the drinking, partly for their different schedules. The most they’d shared was the occasional greeting on the weekends, and that was enough for Bum. Unlike most everyone else in town, he was the one person very few people seemed to know about. He’d never asked outright, but Kyle had seemed surprised when he mentioned his uncle’s name. “That’s your uncle?” he’d asked in surprise. “He’s kinda weird, isn’t he? Never seen him before myself.”

This time, he didn’t have a choice whether to avoid him or not. Permission slip burning a hole in his palms, Bum rehearsed what he was going to say, hoping he’d catch his uncle before he made it to the fridge where his cases of beer lay. He sat on his bed, listening intently for the telltale sound of the door opening.

It was a few hours before he finally heard it, and he took a deep breath to settle his nerves.  _ Why would he be angry anyway? _ he tried to assure himself.  _ I’m just asking him a question. _

He stole out of his room with a shaky sigh, looking down the long hall to see the trail of dirt his uncle’s boots had left. He followed it to the living room, finding his uncle reclined in his armchair, the light of the TV shining on his face.

Bum felt his heartbeat quicken. He didn’t look open for conversation. Already a beer bottle hung half empty from his fingers. Bum cursed himself for being too nervous to approach him right away.

His uncle noticed him standing in the doorway. He narrowed his eyes at him. “What’re you looking at?”

Bum went rigid in surprise. “U-um, nothing, I wanted--”

“Shouldn’t you be at school?”

Bum shook his head slowly. “School is already over…”

His uncle took a long sip of his beer, staring at Bum over the bottle. He didn’t break his gaze for a moment. Bum felt like ice. Finally, he said, “You look just like your mother.”

It wasn’t anything Bum hadn’t heard before. His grandmother used to praise him for it. Like a cute little frog, just like his mom. He nodded slowly, looking down at his permission slip in his hands. He really didn’t want to do this. He’d rather just not go.

But… he’d see Sangwoo there. He’d get to be alone with him. Just the thought made his stomach burn with warmth.

He finally stepped closer, holding the slip up. “My teacher needs you to sign--”

“You asking me a favor?” his uncle asked.

Bum was at a loss for words. He was, he guessed. The way his uncle said it though… it made him worry that he was in the wrong. “It’s… for a field trip…”

“You’re here eating my food, you know. On my paycheck.” His uncle looked straight at him, taking another long swig of his beer. It was dangerously low now. “What have you done for me?”

Bum’s lips trembled. He didn’t want to fight. He didn’t want to be a burden. He backed away from the doorway, but his uncle sat up straighter. “Where are you going, huh?”

Bum bit his lip hard, looking down at his feet, trying to appear submissive. If he didn’t argue, maybe his uncle wouldn’t be mad at him. “I’m sorry,” he murmured.

Suddenly there was a shatter beside his head. He yelped and flinched away from it, hiding his face as glass and alcohol spattered across the wall. He stared into his arms, eyes wide with horror. His uncle had… thrown his beer bottle at him? He tried not to hyperventilate. He hadn’t expected him to be  _ that _ mad. He’d expected to be yelled at maybe, but that bottle could have easily hit him in the face.

“You gonna ask favors, you should actually do something for me, punk.” Bum looked up at him cautiously. “Go grab me another beer,” he snapped, pointing towards the kitchen. “Then I’ll sign your stupid permission slip.”

Bum didn’t protest. He rushed to the kitchen, trying not to stumble over himself. He just wanted this done as soon as possible. He grabbed a beer at random, thankful they were at least all the same brand, and hurried to hand it over. His hands trembled as his uncle took the bottle and the slip from him. His uncle signed the paper and practically threw it back at Bum. “Now go tell your teacher that signature is good for everything else too. Don’t bother me again.”

Bum nodded, folding the slip and running out of the room.

He locked his bedroom door again, and suddenly realized how numb he felt. Like when his grandparents died. His back against the door, he sank slowly to the floor, staring at the wooden panels between his socked feet. Silently, he began to cry.

 

The next day the tears were dry, and he decided to forget about it. He’d gotten what he wanted. He was a good boy; he wouldn’t complain. His grandmother had told him that over and over when he was young. When he cried that he wanted his mother, that he wanted to go home. She’d grab his wrist hard and tell him he needed to be a good boy, and good boys didn’t complain.

So he let the days pass without complaint. Besides, he had the field trip to look forward to.

“Nice, you got it signed!” Kyle commended, high fiving him. It made Bum smile. “It’s totally lame, but I’d rather be there than in class, B.”

Kailey hurried to walk beside them, her pink backpack slapping against her back. “Anything is better than class. You know what’s better than field trips though?” she asked, grinning at the two of them. “Prom night!”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “No, Kailey, you’re just thirsty.”

She giggled and shrugged. “Listen, all I know is if Alex doesn’t ask me already, I’m gonna throw a fit.”

Kyle looked pointedly at Bum. “They’ve been off and on again for four years.”

Bum nodded and smiled at Kailey sweetly. “I hope he asks you. You seem really excited about it.”

She stared at him, eyes wide for a moment. Her face went red, but she scoffed and looked away. “Oh I know he will. But here’s the real question, who are  _ you _ going with? Because going with your friends is cool and all-- _ Kyle _ \--but it’s not really prom without a date.”

Bum felt his face turn hot as he looked at his shoes. He knew who he  _ wanted _ to go with. He knew it would never happen. “I probably won’t go,” he said.

Kyle and Kailey both seemed shocked and offended by this news. Both of them insisted he had to, but Bum just smiled sadly and shook his head, until they reached his classroom and had to go their separate ways.

He sat in his usual seat, staring at his desk. Sangwoo had only grown colder and colder to him. He couldn’t understand why. In front of the teacher, even in front of other students, he was perfectly civil, even friendly. But the moment it was just the two of them, or he thought he could get away with it, he’d insult and belittle him. It was demeaning! Humiliating, infuriating!

But most of all, it was confusing. Everyone liked Sangwoo so much, and despite himself Bum did too. How could someone so well-liked be so mean?

He’d said it over and over again that he’d confront him about it, but he could never build up the courage. Maybe he was just a coward.

He thought back to his uncle earlier that week. He’d managed to talk to him. He’d almost got a face full of glass for it, but he’d mustered up the courage. If he could talk to someone he was so terrified of, it should be easy to talk to someone he liked.

He decided that he would do it. He had to, he didn’t have a choice. If he knew what he was doing wrong at least, he’d be able to stop doing it. And maybe then…

Maybe then Sangwoo would like him.

 

The field trip came along soon enough, and Bum decided he’d find a time to talk to Sangwoo. They were paired off into their lab partners, so he and Sangwoo would be together for at least a couple of hours. He rehearsed his speech again in his mind on the bus ride there, sitting next to Kyle. He was barely even paying attention to him.

_ Sangwoo _ , he’d begin,  _ I want to know why you’ve been so critical of me. I understand if you dislike me, but I’d like to know if I insulted you somehow. If I’m doing something wrong, just tell me. I can’t change my behavior if I don’t know that it’s bothering you. _

It sounded so simple in his head. He imagined Sangwoo’s expression softening. He’d explain that Bum was… maybe he was too quiet? Maybe too ugly? Maybe he was too stupid to be his lab partner?

Whatever it was, Bum would understand what was going on and be able to fix it. And Sangwoo would like him.

Maybe they’d never go to prom together, but that was okay. He would settle for just being friends, no matter how much it burned to see him flirt with girls all around him.

The bus ride ended with Kyle asleep on Bum’s bony shoulder. He gently shook his shoulder to wake him, and he just smiled when Kyle apologized for the drool stain on his sweater.

They were all lined up outside and told to find their partners. Standing still in the middle of the chaos of students grabbing their partners, Sangwoo stood with his thumbs hooked in his pockets, staring at Bum with his golden eyes. Bum walked up to him with a smile that Sangwoo didn’t return. “Surprised you came,” Sangwoo sighed, crossing his arms and turning back to the teacher.

Bum didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t want to talk about his uncle, especially not to Sangwoo; and he didn’t want to admit that he wouldn’t have come if Sangwoo wasn’t going to be there. So he just went silent and paid attention to what the teacher was saying.

“You’ll be splitting off into groups!” the teacher said, waving his hand in the air to catch everyone’s attention. “A third of you will be in the greenhouse! A third of you will be in the recycling facility! A third of you will be going down the trail! Stick with your partners or else, okay? Buddy system, guys and gals and other!”

Bum and Sangwoo were assigned to the trail. Bum hadn’t planned on them being last in line, but Sangwoo stood aside while everyone hurried to catch up to the tour guide. He looked at Bum with that steady stare of his as everyone went on ahead of them. Bum looked up at him in return.

Finally the last stragglers went on ahead, thanking Sangwoo for waiting for them. He smiled good-naturedly and waited for a minute until they were far enough ahead of them that he was out of earshot. “I’ve been wanting to get you alone,” Sangwoo suddenly said.

Bum looked up at him again in surprise. “You… what?”

Sangwoo smiled at him, a slow inching smile. “We haven’t really gotten to know each other, yknow? And these field trips are always super boring, so perfect time to talk.”

Bum’s heart felt so warm at the words. He’d been so sure that Sangwoo hated him. Maybe he just didn’t know him well enough.

So they talked. Through the forest, listening distantly to the guide far ahead of them, Sangwoo spoke to him in Korean, explaining that he could tell it was more comfortable for Bum. They talked about school; they talked about soccer; they talked about Korea; they talked about food and music and movies.

Bum was surprised how much they had in common. They looked so different, but they had a similar taste in old music, and they both prefered quiet places, and they both liked drama movies instead of action. The warm stutter of his heartbeat whenever he stood by Sangwoo became more and more prominent as they spoke.

He went quiet after a while, just listening to Sangwoo talk. He was telling him about some movie he’d never heard of when suddenly Sangwoo went quiet and looked at him curiously. “So why are you friends with those assholes?”

Bum was taken aback by the question. “W-what do you mean?” he asked.

Sangwoo smirked. “I mean, those people you’re always talking to at lunch. They’re jerks.” By that point, the whole group had turned around and was heading back to the parking lot. “You know they call you B because they laugh at your name?”

Bum flushed and looked away. Why would they laugh at his name? “Well… they’re nice to me,” he murmured.

“Nice to you?” Sangwoo laughed. “They treat you like some kind of exotic delicacy!” His voice had that bitter, mean tinge to it that it always seemed to when he was insulting Bum in class. “You’re just the hot new commodity to them. Their ticket to being cool. Look at us, we’re friends with the weird new kid!”

Bum felt his lips tremble, trying to hold back tears. That wasn’t true. Kyle was nice to him. So was Kailey, and Alex, and Charlie, and Sarah. They made him feel welcome. They insisted he go to prom with them, they made him feel like a part of the group.

They never insulted him.

As they got close to the parking lot, Bum felt acid in his throat. He looked up at Sangwoo and said, in no uncertain terms, “At least they don’t call me pathetic.”

Sangwoo looked taken aback by the statement. And then his eyes narrowed dangerously. “Excuse me?”

Bum stopped at the edge of the parking lot, turning to face Sangwoo. “They’re… they’re nice to me. But you never are! I don’t know what I did to offend you, b-but… it’s not fair how you treat me.”

Sangwoo’s eyes changed. It was clear as day this time. Before, he’d wondered if it had been a trick of the light, but this time as he looked at Sangwoo, his pupils became thin slits. “Not fair? I don’t owe you shit. I thought maybe I’d be nice and warn you about your shitty friends, but you wanna turn it around on me, huh?”

Bum was too shocked by the change in his eyes to respond. It was so unnatural. His usually beautiful golden eyes were eerie instead of gorgeous. Supernatural, even.

Sangwoo smirked, showing off his teeth, glinting in the slight sunlight. “You really are pathetic.”

With that he turned on his heel and crossed the parking lot. Bum finally shook off the shock, and his eyebrows furrowed with frustration. “Wait!” he called across the lot. “Wait! Sangwoo!”

He chased after him, holding his arm out towards him, but he was already way ahead of him. He would never catch up. “Please, wait! I just want to know what I did--”

Suddenly someone screamed his name.

It happened in the blink of an eye. Bum heard the squeal of tires, crunch of gravel. He looked towards the sound, eyes going wide in horror. A minivan rushed towards him, tires slipping in the rain.

He didn’t have a chance to scream.

Everything was a blur. He felt an arm around his shoulders and a loud scraping clang like stone against metal.

But… there was no impact.

He looked up again as the seconds passed with nothing but his breath and the pitter patter of rain on the ground. Sangwoo was right beside him. They had hit the ground, pressed against the side of one of the school buses, trapped in a corner caused by the minivan and the bus. Sangwoo’s arm was wrapped firmly around his shoulders and the other was outstretched, hand in the center of a huge dent in the side of the car that had almost hit them. A dent so huge that it might as well have been left by a boulder.

Bum stared at Sangwoo at a loss for words. A moment before, Sangwoo had been across the parking lot from him. And now, in a fraction of a second, he was holding Bum in his arms, and… he’d stopped a  _ minivan _ . With his  _ bare hand _ .

Bum’s surprise began to turn into horror. “You’re… not human,” he whispered.

Sangwoo didn’t respond. He stood up, leaving Bum curled up on the ground, leapt over the dented hood of the minivan and disappeared, just as a crowd began to form around the accident.

Bum was cowering on the ground, unsure if he should be more scared of the fact that he’d almost been crushed between a car and a bus, or of the fact that the one who saved him--the one he was head over heels in love with, who seemed to hate his guts--was some otherworldly creature.

Someone took his hand, asking if he was all right. He could barely hear them. Instead he looked to where he’d last seen Sangwoo. But he was nowhere in sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me a little bit to update! I've had the chapter done for a little while, but I was editing it a lot because I wasn't too sure how I want the story to go. I think I've got it all settled now though, so the rest should come out sooner for sure!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter, be sure to let me know your thoughts either here or at my tumblr novelistangel.tumblr.com! Thank you so much for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I KNOWWW, it started as a joke made by sangwoo-hoo on tumblr? And then I.... really liked it XD I've always wondered what Twilight would be like if it had embraced the more horror aspects of vampires (cough, cough, like actually burning in sunlight), and I feel like who better to be a horrific vampire than Sangwoo?
> 
> I'm really enjoying writing this though, there will be 3 more short chapters after this. There's a lot of changes from the original story, like rearranged scenes and cut characters and new plot points, mostly to accommodate a faster pace and different tone, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!
> 
> As always, if you like the story, I'd love a comment and/or kudos! And if you have any questions or want to hit me up, I'm at novelistangel.tumblr.com! Thank you so much for reading!


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